Unfortunately, a small section of text in the above paper (in the Discussion, paragraph 7) was reported incorrectly. The sentence “The present authors propose that the sustained reduction in hyperinflation (as indicated by a significant reduction in IC) may allow patients to withstand an insult for longer before experiencing intolerable dyspnoea (a key symptom during an exacerbation [23])” should read “The present authors propose that the sustained reduction in hyperinflation (as indicated by a significant increase in IC) may allow patients to withstand an insult for longer before experiencing intolerable dyspnoea (a key symptom during an exacerbation [23])”.